LG X Power 2

The G6 may be the phone taking eye stage at MWC, only that doesn't hateful LG'south midrange offerings have nothing going for them. Tucked abroad in the corner of LG's berth we institute the X Power 2, the successor to the original 10 Power we reviewed last twelvemonth and liked for its exceptionally long battery life. The Ten Power 2 one-ups its predecessor past packing in an fifty-fifty more capacious cell, increasing the screen size, and refreshing specs all around.

Design

Similar the original X Power, the 10 Power ii is a large polycarbonate slab that doesn't particularly stand out in terms of design. Measuring half dozen.one past 3.i past 0.iii inches (HWD) and five.8 ounces, it's a bit bigger and heavier than the X Power (5.nine by 3.0 by 0.3 inches, 4.9 ounces). The larger size pushes information technology definitively into the phablet category, and you lot can't actually use it with just ane hand. Depending on your needs, that might exist a worthwhile trade-off for the bigger screen and battery.

MWC Bug Art The 10 Ability two has a v.5-inch i,280-by-720-pixel display (a slight increase over the 5.three-inch original) that looks reasonably sharp given its big size, though upon shut inspection, you tin notice some pixelation. That said, text and graphics are quite clear and viewing angles are good. LG claims to have increased outdoor readability in direct sunlight. I wasn't able to take information technology outside of the demo booth, but nether the harsh lights of the showroom floor, information technology was still quite visible.

Hardware and Software

The most meaning changes are nether the hood. For starters, you'll find a massive, sealed-in iv,500mAh battery, which is 400mAh bigger than the one in the original. LG claims the X Power 2 can handle 15 hours of continuous video playback, navigate by GPS for 14 hours, and surf the web for 18 hours. It also supports fast charging, allowing you to charge it to l percent in 1 hour, and reach a total charge in about 2 hours. The original X Power lasted for 8 hour, 48 minutes of LTE video streaming at maximum brightness. Given the increase in battery and screen size in the Ten Power 2, y'all can likely expect similar results.

The phone is powered by an octa-cadre processor clocked at 1.5GHz, though we don't know if it'south a MediaTek chipset similar the previous generation or a Qualcomm processor. There 2GB of RAM, upwards from the one.5GB of the original. I didn't go much fourth dimension to play with the phone, merely it didn't have problem opening and switching betwixt a large number of apps, and the only time information technology stuttered was when I launched the camera.

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Speaking of the camera, you get a 13-megapixel rear sensor and a 5-megapixel front-facing sensor. In a exhibit setting with blindingly bright lights, it'due south like shooting fish in a barrel to have crisp shots, so it's difficult to guess camera quality from the snaps I took. That said, the camera app wasn't every bit responsive equally I would have liked, and at that place was one instance when I moved my hand a niggling bit and the image blurred. My general impression is that the camera won't be much of an improvement over the previous generation, but I'll reserve judgment until I can put information technology through more testing at PC Labs.

The phone only comes with 16GB of internal storage, only information technology tin take microSD cards upwardly to 2TB, co-ordinate to LG. In my feel, LG usually disables Android's Adoptable Storage feature, so you lot probably won't be able to format the card equally internal storage and run apps from information technology. On the plus side, the X Power 2 comes running Android vii.0 Nougat. It's nice to encounter new phones launching with relatively current software, though because LG's heavy skin, I wouldn't expect swift (if any) updates.

Availability

The Ten Power 2 is due to launch in March in Latin America, before striking the US, Asia, Europe, and other regions. We don't know pricing notwithstanding, but the X Power was a relatively affordable device, so we expect the X Power 2 to autumn within the same $100 to $200 range. Bank check dorsum for more details and a full review when nosotros get the telephone in for testing.